Beck is sent by Able to run an errand in the nearby city of Gallium. The road, however, is blocked by a storm and Beck gets lost in the Outlands while looking for a shortcut. He arrives to some energy pool which seems to be absorbing lightning strikes. Fascinated, Beck approaches, only to fall into the pool. At the bottom, he finds a mirror in which he sees something move, but when he gets closer, he gets sucked into and trapped in the mirror, only to be wrestled and knocked out by a mysterious assailant.
Back in Argon, Able worries something very particular might have happened to Beck. He then gets a surprise visit by Tron who is agitated about some activity of Dyson's in Purgos. Able warns him not to burden Beck too much and volunteers to investigate. He later infiltrates a secret construction facility in which citizens are rounded up to do the work and almost gets outed by Dyson, only to be saved by Tron in the nick of time. The project is eventually revealed to be a gigantic, yellow-lit recognizer which launches itself from below ground and flies off to somewhere.
Beck awakens in a strange, cylindrical chamber outfitted with a lot of rotating gears and colorful lights. A mysterious figure riddles with tattoo-like light lines approaches and explains that this is his home, a "compressed space", "not quite off the Grid, but close". He rather insistingly invites Beck to stay, citing the storm, just as a lightning bolt courses through the space. The whole conversation is unsettling to Beck, since the stranger displays extraordinary abilities, expresses extreme opinions about fighting CLU. The program also acts too friendly towards Beck, plays too nice about his secret identity and insists that they have a lot in common. He's also very giddy about something he wants to show Beck.
The "something" turns out to be some elaborate, Tesla coil-like device, consisting of a sphere on a rod connected to a bunch of cables, which slowly starts ascending through the chamber as it absorbs lightning. Standing on top of the sphere, the stranger sets off a rambling monologue about him and Beck being the "alpha and omega" and destroying the Grid together, believing it all an act of providence, or rather, his and Beck's programming. A fight ensues where his opponent can predict his every move, upon which he reveals that this is because he was the original Renegade, Tron's first trainee. He straps himself and Beck to a pair of electric chairs, which he intends to use to drain the pair's energy to cause an overload to the Grid. Just as the contraption breaks free from the compressed space, Beck receives some strange visions, including both Tron and CLU calling out to him. He breaks himself free, compromising the machine. After a brief duel, he jumps off as the sphere collapses into the energy pool. The stranger crashes back through the mirror and into the compressed space, which explodes.
Beck returns to Tron who's examining the giant recognizer's schematics. Upset by his meeting with the first Renegade, he gauges Tron about it by asking if Tron chose him because he's special and unique. He also notices that the scars received from the electric chair's shackles remain. Back at the energy pool, the stranger crawls out of the broken mirror, laughing.
This episode features the following tropes:
- Arc Welding: The Stranger is actually Cyrus, Tron's rescuer from a previous episode. However, he doesn't introduce himself as such here.
- Bottle Episode: Tesler and his lackeys are not featured, and neither are Mara and Zed.
- Cold Ham/Creepy Monotone: Cyrus speaks in a monotone purr, even. when. he puts. an emphasis. on. words.
- Eldritch Location: Cyrus' prison. The "real-world" portion of it is a lake with a swirling vortex which absorbs lightning. After sucking Beck in, the vortex spews him down to the bottom, where he can walk and breathe as if it's above water. Then there's the mirror there, through which Beck falls when he leans into it, but can't cross back. Finally, the prison itself is a vast, cylindrical space made out of rotating gears that light up in all colors. And that's before it reveals an antenna-like device that absorbs lightning.
- Mad Scientist: Cyrus may not look the part, but he sure acts like one:
- Lightning Can Do Anything: What better way of portraying his madness than having him operate a lightning-powered device straight out of Nikola Tesla's dreams?
- They Called Me Mad!:
Cyrus: [Tron] thought this place could contain my genius! - Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Cyrus believes that he'll "free" every living program by blowing up the Grid, seeing all programs as slaves.
- Sealed Evil in a Can:Cyrus: It's a prison, Beck. My prison...Cyrus: ... But all prisons have keys.
- Sliding Scale Of Free Will Versus Fate: Cyrus is a firm believer in fate and he's right in a sense, seeing as Basic programs were written by Kevin Flynn. However, he also believes the storm and Becks arrival to be scripted by fate.Cyrus: You think you're acting beyond your programming, but this IS your programming!
